I just discovered something. If you change your email password, without updating the settings in Gmail for retrieving your email, you stop receiving your email.

Who knew?

I made another discovery. If, when you get an error message reading “Unable to retrieve pop3 email”, changing the settings for sending email won’t have the slightest effect.

Who knew that, either?

All of which reminds me of the time, as Head of Computing, I was trying to get a printer to work.

Deputy Head: What are you up to?

Me: I’ve been trying to get this printer to work for the last half hour. I’ve tried everything: changed the network settings, reset the wi-fi, you name it. I’m stumped. I’m going to have to phone the Local Authority and book some technical support.

Deputy Head: Good idea. But before you do, have you thought of plugging it in?

Me: Duh!

A prime example of Sattingler’s Principle: see 21 Rules for Computer Users.

There are a couple of serious aspects of this sort of thing:

Firstly, the ore you know, the easier it is to overlook the most simple things.

Secondly, there’s no shame in admitting such mistakes. I’ll never forget once doing a training session in which things went a bit wrong. I thought I’d lose all credibility. Far from it. One of the teachers came up to me afterwards and set it had inspired him and his colleagues with increased confidence. How come? “Because if this sort of thing can happen to someone with your experience and expertise, it’s OK for us too if things don’t go according to plan!”